The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said it has a four-year plan to increase the number of electric motorcycles used in the nation by 37,000 by 2017, as part of the government’s efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
According to the ministry, about 14 million motorcycles are currently in use, which translates as 1.8 motorcycles per family.
The high density of motorcycles has become a major source of carbon dioxide emissions, explaining why only half of the days per year are considered good air quality days, the ministry said.
To improve air quality, the ministry said that the Executive Yuan has been implementing a plan since 2009 to encourage riders to replace their gasoline-powered motorcycles with electric models.
As of the end of last year, there were 31,337 electric motorcycles on the road, up from just 27 seen in 2009.
The ministry said that while increasingly more individual commuters are using motorcycles for daily transportation purposes, the eco-friendly vehicles have become part of a means of transportation for several industries, such as door-to-door delivery services providers, post offices and tourism on outlying islands.
The ministry cited as an example Penghu, a popular tourist destination, saying that the island added 3,430 new electric motorcycles from 2011 to 2013, which meant that one out of every two newly registered motorcycles in Penghu was an electric model.
The ministry said that 50cc and 80cc models are popular with elderly motorists or tourists on outlying islands like Penghu.
The ministry said it would encourage the motorcycle manufacturing industry to develop larger-sized 100cc and 125cc models to help electric motorcycle makers penetrate the mainstream market and boost the use of the energy-efficient vehicles, adding that the nation has ambitions to transform itself into a global hub for developing electric motorcycles and their related components.
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